Max Lucado shares the heart behind his new book Unbreakable Courage Releasing September 2026 - Available to Pre-Order at Eden.co.uk Today
There are many things in our world that trouble us. We have reason to be troubled. So did Elijah. The prophet was born into a toxic cauldron. For more than a century the children of Israel had mocked their heritage. Their days were marked with idol worship, orgies, and murder. The system was maintained by an order of priests who were funded by the queen and captivated by evil. The very people who’d been called by God to be a light to the world served as tools of Satan.
Yet, in the midst of it all, the prophet was a powerhouse. Ever outnumbered but never outmanoeuvred. The odds were against him, but the God of heaven was for him.
Elijah had his difficulties, but he landed on his feet. He was a godly person in a godless society. Steadfast in faith. Isn’t that what we desire? To move forward with unbreakable courage that refuses to budge or compromise. To keep swimming upstream. To stay in the race and finish the course.
How can we? By knowing what Elijah knew. By believing what he believed: The God of Israel lives! Elijah gripped this belief and held on with both hands: The God of Israel lives! Won’t you do the same? Faith in this living and loving God changes everything. We do not need smaller problems. We need a stalwart faith in our great, big God.
Seasons of sadness come to the most courageous saints. Did they not come to Christ? “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death” (Heb. 5:7 NLT).
If tears streaked the cheeks of Jesus, dare we feel shame when tears leave a trail on ours? Tough times happen to God’s people. A sagging spirit is not a sign of a fragile faith. Let this truth settle in your soul: God has not given up on you. God has not abandoned you. You may be hard on yourself. But God? He responds to you in the way he responded to despondent Elijah.
Prepare yourself for one of the most tender moments described in Scripture: “Then he [Elijah] lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” (1 Kings 19:5–7)
What does this story tell us about how God responds to a dejected saint? What does he say to the sad and weary? Be refreshed. God told Elijah to eat and sleep. (Sometimes the godliest act is to take a nap.) Rest and refreshment. God rested on the seventh day. The world didn’t collapse when he took a Sabbath.
It won’t fall apart if you do the same. If you are depressed and feel like giving up, his word to you is “get refreshed.” That’s exactly what Elijah did.
What does it look like for a person of faith to have unbreakable courage in today’s world? UNBELIEF says, “It’s my life; I live like I want.” FAITH says, “I’m God’s child. I live like he wants.” UNBELIEF says, “You have your truth. I have my truth. There is no universal truth.” FAITH says, “Jesus earned authority at the empty tomb. He is the way, the truth, and the life.” UNBELIEF says, “There is no future in this life and no promise of a next life.” FAITH says, “The purpose of this life is to discover and serve God. The purpose of the next is to live with him forever.”
Don’t think for a second that the worldview of a Christ follower mirrors that of a nonbeliever. We are living in a culture that has little interest in people living out their faith. But we are not without help. God’s Bible is packed with stories of people of faith remaining strong during tough times. Joseph when he was imprisoned in Egypt. Joshua when he had to conquer the promised land. Daniel when he lived in exile in Babylon. Esther when she was exiled to Persia. The first disciples . . . These stories encourage and instruct us.
Our prophet is remembered as an example of radical prayer. Prayer was Elijah’s strategy for the tragedies and troubles he faced. Passionately. Dramatically. Emotionally. Thunderously. Elijah became Elijah by praying this way. Fervent prayer changes the heart of the one who prays!
Take this promise to heart. Take the dead and dying portions of your life—the vigour that has faded, the ideals that have evaporated, the faith that has dwindled—take the corpses of your life and lay them before the Lord. And next to them place our society, which seems sicker day by day. Are you concerned for our youth? Don’t criticize them. Pray. Are you bewildered by the dilemma of immigration? Don’t grow cynical. Become prayerful. Do you suspect that your country is about to plunge over the edge? Don’t panic. Pray.
If you were to pray an Elijah-level prayer, what would you say? What would you pray? Then say it! Pray it! Let faith fuel your prayers. And let prayers put starch in your faith. Will God give you what you request? Yes, he will. He may do so in a different form than you ask for or a different time frame than you prefer, but “[Jesus] is the ‘Yes’ to all of God’s promises” (2 Cor. 1:20 GNT). Let’s renew our commitment to unreasonable, unquenchable, unthinkable prayer. Let’s ask God to resurrect hope that has perished and dreams that are buried.
He can. He has done so before. Who knows, he may just be waiting on an Elijah to ask him with unbreakable courage to do so again.
There are occasions in which we rest in prayer. There are other occasions in which we wrestle in prayer. Elijah wrestled. Once was not enough. Twice was inadequate. Three times he pleaded for the breath of life to be restored to the widow’s son. Let us not miss the profound lesson that Elijah teaches us. He did what mattered most: he prayed. Not only did he pray, he prayed passionately. Dramatically. Emotionally. Thunderously. Elijah on the boy. Begging. Pleading.
We do not swagger into God’s presence, but neither do we cower. We are not bossy in our prayers, but neither are we mousy in our requests. We take courage and step confidently into the front door of the throne room of God, having been invited by him and escorted in by his Son. We embrace God as Father, kneel before him as Lord, and earnestly make our requests known, not because of what we have achieved, but because of what Christ has done. Jesus spilled his blood for us. We can pour out our hearts before God.
Let a man spend a night fasting and praying at the bedside of his sick child and that father will not be the same man. Let a young mother pour out her complaint to God over the death of her young child and that young mother will be changed. Let a church challenge God to purge sin and send revival and there is no way that church will be the same.
Prayer changes the heart of the one who prays. And prayer touches the heart of the One who hears it.
Please hear me as I say this: Satan is our foe. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12 NKJV).
Your enemy is not your Ahab. Your adversary is not your competition. Your foes are not the people who forgot or abused you. Your antagonist does not work in the Oval Office or a Hollywood movie studio.
Our enemy is the devil. And at the end of this age, his time will end. Until then expect our Father to show up. Don’t think for a moment that he will sit still while Satan seduces and harms his creation.
Can’t a Mount Carmel moment happen in our day? Our days are as dark as were the days of Elijah. Our God is as alive as he was in the days of Elijah. Dare we dream of a renewal that silences the stewards of Satan and reveals them for the frauds they are?
Then let’s imitate our hero, Elijah: Serve the Lord only.
Purposeful silence and solitude are basic courses in Unbreakable Courage 101. It’s as if we avoid the stillness. Headphones, earbuds, social media. Society has a constant chatter to it. Yet God’s invitation is compelling: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10 NKJV). The Message translates this command: “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God.” When did you last “step out of the traffic” to be alone with your Father?
Do you feel isolated from family and friends? Are you cut off from your career? Are you recovering in a hospital or stationed far from home? Perhaps your isolation is less geographical and more ideological. Do you feel alone in your opinions and concerns? It’s hard not to herd. When we follow the crowd, we feel safe. To swim against the tide, we need strength.
Do not resist the season of isolation; embrace it. Turn to God as your best friend. Find what it means to walk in the Spirit, to lean on and lean into him as your comforter. Replace pursuits of pleasure with pursuits of God. Meditate on Scripture. Read inspirational books. Enjoy times of worship. Explore the benefits of silence. Take advantage of the small sabbaticals that come your way: the early morning moments, the time in the car as you commute, the minutes before you board a plane.
Lay claim to a quiet place, a spot where you can hear God’s voice and where you can be honest with self and God. Nothing to lose, gain, or conceal. A park, closet, or patio. Make regular visits for the singular purpose of being alone with God. Speak less when you are in his presence. Let your words be precise and few, not vague and many. Learn to savour the stillness. Trust God’s stops as well as God’s steps.
Elijah's story is relevant because the challenges he faced are similar to ours. From Elijah’s life in 9th century BC to today’s world–In a historical blink of an eye, we are shedding old beliefs and grasping for new ones. What was once unthinkable is acceptable today. Changes around us. Challenges within us. Chaos. Anxiety, Exhaustion. Fear. The economy. The threat of nuclear war. The school shootings. The homeless camps in your city. The state of your country.
The story of Elijah offers us hope. It is a field manual on how to thrive during a spiritual drought. Elijah shows us that one person following a living God is greater than hundreds of people praying to a lifeless one.
He shows us how to find faith in a torrent of odd gods and bad odds. Do you feel it is you against the world? Not so, my friend. Outnumbered by foes and outdone by fear? Please reconsider. Surrounded by adversity? Perhaps. Yet, you are also encircled by divinity.
With God’s help you can ride these raging rapids of this world with unbreakable courage. Immovable. Determined. Square jawed and resolved. Like Elijah.
Some years ago I made a friend at a workout facility. The fellow seemed to live at the place. Each time I entered the locker room, there he was. He told me he wanted to lose weight. He made four or five trips to the facility each week. On each occasion he followed the same routine: he sat in the steam bath for several minutes, showered, and went home.
That’s it. That was his weight-loss plan. He was to be commended for joining the club, paying the dues, entering the doors, and enjoying the steam bath. That was a good start.
Again, sitting in the steam bath is better than nothing. And sitting in a church service is better than nothing . . . but don’t expect too many results. Spiritual muscle is developed not by sitting but by acting. Not by listening but by doing.
We go to church. We hear a message, meet some nice people, enjoy a few songs, and even help to distribute food boxes, but are we changed? Are we different? Do we lose our temper less and love our neighbour more? Do we worry less and pray more? Are we less concerned about our will and more concerned about God’s?
These are essential questions for this day and age. Society is not the friend of the believer. Will we be able to stay strong despite the odds against us? If you and I are to successfully display unbreakable courage in today’s world, we might need some training. Elijah did, and so do we.
Why read Job? Discover 7 compelling reasons to read this ancient masterpiece on suffering and mystery, plus the best translation recommendations.
Why read Ecclesiastes? Discover 7 compelling reasons to read this ancient existential masterpiece, plus the best translation recommendations for modern readers.
Why read Esther? Discover 7 compelling reasons to read this ancient political thriller, plus the best translation recommendations for fast narrative reading.
Why read Romans? Discover 7 compelling reasons to read Paul's masterwork on grace and theology, plus the best translations for deep study.
Why read Ruth? Discover 7 compelling reasons to read this four-chapter biblical masterpiece, plus the best translations for a short narrative.
Trustpilot
